Southwest Conference
The Southwest Conference was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklahoma and Arkansas.
For most of its history, the core members of the conference were Texas-based schools plus one in Arkansas: Baylor University, Rice University, Southern Methodist University, University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Texas Christian University, Texas Tech University, University of Houston, and the University of Arkansas.
After a long period of stability and success, the conference's overall athletic prowess began to decline throughout the 1980s, due in part to numerous member schools violating NCAA recruiting rules, culminating in the suspension of the entire SMU football program for the 1987 and 1988 seasons.
Arkansas, after years of feeling like an outsider in the conference, left after the 1990–91 school year to join the Southeastern Conference, although they did compete in the SWC in football for the 1991 season. Five years later, the conference precipitously broke up as Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech combined with the members of the former Big Eight Conference to form a new league, the Big 12 Conference, while Rice, SMU, TCU, and Houston found homes in less prominent conferences, with TCU and Houston later joining the Big 12 themselves and SMU later joining the ACC.
History
Early years
, the University of Texas athletic director, sent out questionnaires to schools in Texas and neighboring states to gauge their interest in organizing an athletic conference. By March 1, 1914, a number of schools had responded favorably to the idea.The first organizational meeting of the conference was set for April 30, 1914; since not all schools involved could send representatives to attend that date, it was ultimately held on May 5 and 7 at the Oriental Hotel in Dallas, Texas. It was chaired by Bellmont, who originally wanted Louisiana State University and the University of Mississippi to join the conference as well, but they declined to do so. The Southwest Intercollegiate Athletic Conference became an official body on December 8 at a formal meeting at the Rice Hotel in Houston.
Its early years saw fluctuation in membership; Southwestern dropped out of the conference in 1916, and Southern Methodist University joined in 1918, while Texas Christian University became a member in 1923. Rice University left the conference in 1916, only to rejoin in 1918.
Phillips University competed as a conference member for one year. Oklahoma departed in 1919 to join the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association and was followed by Oklahoma A&M in 1925. The series between Texas and Oklahoma would still continue as a non-conference matchup in the annual Red River Rivalry game held in Dallas. From 1925 until 1991, the University of Arkansas would be the only conference member geographically outside the state of Texas.
Prime years
By 1925, the conference's name was shortened to simply Southwest Conference. After its organizational years, the conference settled into regularly scheduled meetings among its members and began to gain stature nationwide. The SWC would be guided by seven commissioners, the first of whom, P. W. St. Clair, was appointed in 1938. In 1940, the conference took control of the then five-year-old Cotton Bowl Classic, which further established the prestige of both the bowl and the conference. Texas Technological College joined the SWC in 1958 from the Border Conference followed by the University of Houston for the 1976 season.The two glory periods of the conference happened during the 1930s and the 1960s. In 1935, the last year before the AP Poll, both SMU and TCU claimed the national title. The 2 teams had played in one of the first games labeled "game of the century" on November 30 of that year. In 1938, TCU won the AP national title. In 1939, the SWC achieved back to back national titles when Texas A&M won the AP Poll.
In the 1960s, the SWC was dominated by two teams: Texas and Arkansas. Texas won the 1963 national championship, and Arkansas won a national championship in 1964 in the Football Writers Association of America and Helms Athletic Foundation polls. In 1969, Texas won another national championship by beating #2-ranked Arkansas 15–14 in the regular season's final game. The 1969 Arkansas–Texas game in Fayetteville, Arkansas with President Richard Nixon in attendance is usually counted among the greatest college football games ever played. Texas also won the 1970 United Press International National Championship, which until 1974 was awarded prior to the bowl games. Texas lost the Cotton Bowl Classic following the 1970 season to Notre Dame by a score of 24–11, giving the Associated Press Championship to Nebraska after they beat LSU by a score of 17–12 in the Orange Bowl.
Since its first Cotton Bowl Classic and lasting until 1995, the Southwest Conference Champion automatically received an invitation to be the "host" team in the Cotton Bowl Classic game on New Year's Day in Dallas. Opponents usually were the runners-up from the Big Eight Conference or the Southeastern Conference although independents Penn State and Notre Dame were also often featured. Circa the 1940s onward, the Cotton Bowl Classic was included among the four major bowl games and not infrequently had national championship implications. Near the turn of the century however, the game declined in importance largely due to the decline of SWC prominence. In 1977, Notre Dame became the last team to win a national championship in the Cotton Bowl Classic by beating Texas in the January 1978 game. Texas might have been awarded the national championship in 1983 had they won the January 1984 game, but they were bested by Georgia 10-9.
The early 1980s were the glory years of SWC basketball, including the Phi Slama Jama teams at the University of Houston. The most consistent program during the last quarter of the 20th century was the University of Arkansas with Sweet 16 appearances in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1990, 1991, Elite 8 appearances in 1978, 1979, 1990, and 1991, and Final Four appearances in 1978 and 1990. Arkansas's famed Triplets - Marvin Delph, Ron Brewer and Sidney Moncrief - gave the rest of the league fits. The Razorbacks' Lee Mayberry, Todd Day, and Oliver Miller won three straight SWC regular season and tournament titles from 1989 to 1991, the school's last three seasons in the conference. The passion of Arkansas fans for their Razorbacks often overran the confines of SWC basketball venues, so much so, that Reunion Arena in Dallas was deemed "Barnhill South" based on the numbers and intensity of Hog fans present. Arkansas would go on to win the 1994 national championship.
The Texas Longhorns baseball program under coach Cliff Gustafson won national titles in 1975 and 1983 as well as titles under Bibb Falk in 1949 and 1950. The Longhorns have won 2 more national titles in 2002 and 2005 as members of the Big XII. Texas dominated the SWC for several years, winning an incredible 64 conference championships between 1915 and 1996. Texas would make it to a record 27 College World Series during their time in the SWC, with that number increasing to 38 as of 2025. The Arkansas Razorbacks also fielded fine teams that advanced to the College World Series. The Hogs finished runners-up in 1979, 3rd in 1985, and 5th in both the 1987 and 1989 seasons. The Hogs have continued this tradition since moving to the SEC, reaching the CWS seven times under Arkansas alumnus Dave Van Horn, and were the 2018 national runners-up. Texas A&M rose to power in the late 1980s, going 58–5 in 1989 before losing twice in the regional championship round on its home field to LSU. The Aggies reached the College World Series in 1993. Rice began its ascent to college baseball's elite in the conference's final years under coach Wayne Graham, reaching the CWS in 1997, the year after the conference disbanded. Graham and the Owls would win the CWS national title in 2003 as members of the WAC.
The Arkansas Razorbacks were dominant in track and field winning 15 SWC cross country team titles, 11 SWC indoor track team titles, 9 SWC outdoor track team titles, and an incredible 8 SWC triple crowns. During their SWC days, the Razorbacks won 14 NCAA national team championships and one NCAA team triple crown. The list of Arkansas individual SWC champions and individual NCAA champions is long. Standout coaches and athletes include the legendary John McDonnell of Arkansas, the winningest coach in NCAA history regardless of sport. Arkansas has now won 42 national championships in men's track and cross country, and 8 in women's. Baylor's Michael Johnson, Texas A&M's Randy Matson, Rice's Fred Hansen, Houston's Carl Lewis, and Arkansas' Mike Conley all went on to win Olympic gold medals.
Final years
The 1980s saw many of the conference's athletic programs hit by recruiting scandals and NCAA probations. The only programs to escape probation in the 1980s were Arkansas, Baylor, and Rice. Because of repeated major violations, in 1987, the SMU Mustangs football program became only the third in NCAA history to receive the so-called "death penalty". The NCAA canceled SMU's 1987 season, and limited it to seven road games for 1988. However, nearly all of the school's lettermen transferred elsewhere, forcing SMU to keep its football program shuttered for 1988 as well. SMU also remained on probation until 1990. At that time, NCAA rules prohibited schools on probation from appearing on live television. As a result, the conference's market share in television coverage dwindled.The SWC's performance in football declined precipitously. The last SWC football champion to win a bowl game was Texas A&M, who beat Notre Dame in the 1988 Cotton Bowl Classic by a score of 35–10. Since then, the final eight SWC champions lost in their bowl games. After SMU's second-place finish in most polls in 1982, SWC programs usually were not serious contenders for the national title. For instance: Texas had strong teams in 1981, 1983, 1990, and 1995. Arkansas earned national recognition in 1988 and 1989, and Texas A&M was competitive from 1985 to 1995. By the end of their respective seasons however, none of these football teams were able to remain in the national championship hunt.